International students
Our counselling team supports international students with all questions regarding student life in Germany. We offer advice, events and information if you are new to Germany or face various challenges during your studies. With our Study Buddy Programme and our Meet and Eat offer, you have two opportunities to get to know your fellow students and make friends.
We advise you on all questions concerning student life in Germany
- how to find a room
- how to get in touch with Germans,
- which health insurance is best for you,
- what you need to know about working in Germany,
- how to finance your studies,
- If you get into financial difficulties
- if you are pregnant or in Germany with your children
or - if you have received a letter from an authority that you do not understand.
Even if you don't know whether you are in the right place with your question - feel free to contact us. We'll find out together and pass you on to the right place.
Arriving in Germany: general info
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An overview of the options for financing your studies can be found in the video.
In this brochure you will find out how you can meet people in Kiel, how and where you can get counselling or German lessons. You will also learn more about the environment, transport and travelling.
By the way: Once a semester, we organise the "How to handle Germany" event in cooperation with other institutions - with practical everyday information on various aspects of life in Germany and Kiel.
In our video series for international students, we inform you about health insurance and what you can do if you are ill.
The German-English Health Dictionary of the German Student Union provides you with a wide range of information on health-related topics.
The German-English canteen dictionary shows you typical situations from everyday student life in the canteen and introduces you to the appropriate vocabulary.
Living
In Germany, every home has to pay the licence fee. This finances the public service media. The licence fee currently costs €18.36/month. The fee must be paid from the first month you are registered in Germany.
You must register yourself with the licence fee service. If you do not do this, the Rundfunkbeitragsservice will write to you by post after a few months and demand payment of the unpaid fees.
Only students who receive BAföG can be exempted. International students must pay the fee, regardless of how long they will live in Germany and how they finance themselves.
Whether your room in a hall of residence counts as an individual flat or whether you can register a shared flat with your flatmates varies from hall of residence to hall of residence.
You can find lots of information about the licence fee for students and how to register on the Rundfunkbeitragsservice website. Information on the licence fee is available in various languages.
You can also find basic information about the licence fee in an explanatory video.
Dormitory dictionaries: They show typical situations from everyday life in the dormitory with the help of pictures.
Dormitory dictionary - German/Chinese/English
Dormitory dictionary - German/Polish/Russian
Dormitory dictionary - German/French/Spanish
Dormitory Dictionary - German/French/Arabic
Our international residence tutors are students who have experience living abroad, usually speak several languages and have lived in Schleswig-Holstein for some time. They are the contact persons for all international students living in the hall of residence.
If you...
- have questions about life in the hall of residence and everyday life in Germany,
- don't know who to go to with specific questions,
- have experienced difficult situations or feel uncomfortable in Germany,
- if you would like to socialise with others,
- and, and, and
...then the tutors will be happy to help you.
They also organise various events for international and German students (for example: welcome breakfasts, games evenings, intercultural parties, etc.).
You can find out who is currently responsible for your hall of residence on the page of the respective hall of residence.
Would you like to become a hall of residence tutor yourself? Then take a look at our page on volunteering.
Make friends
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The Study Buddy Programme is a mentoring programme for international and German* students. It promotes intercultural life at the universities in Schleswig-Holstein and the contact and exchange between German* and international students. The Studentenwerk SH arranges contact between two students (German* and international) based on interests and language skills. We currently offer the programme in Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg.
The Study Buddies meet in pairs in their free time and do what they enjoy. They decide for themselves how often they meet. In addition, we organise some events in which all Study Buddys can participate.
If you would like to register for the programme, please use our registration form. We have also answered many questions about the Study Buddy programme in a FAQ.
Registration for Kiel
Registration for Lübeck
Registration for Flensburg
(*Note: by "German" students we do not necessarily mean students with German citizenship. For the programme, it is important that you speak German fluently, that you have lived in Germany for several years and that you have people in your circle of friends who have lived in Germany for a long time. To avoid misunderstandings, we ask you to click on "register as a 'German' study buddy" when registering).
Contact persons
